Tag: Fred Thiele

PAUL SQUIRE PHOTO | Riverhead Town Board members (on right) get briefed on the town’s 2012 financial audits last Thursday.

While Riverhead Town officials are primarily concerned with overcoming a deficit in the town’s general fund next year – which will be closed with $3.5 million in reserves – they say a deficit in the Community Preservation Fund looms even larger.

Auditors contracted by the town, along with members of the town’s independent audit committee, found that about $19 million remains in the CPF, according to findings presented at last Thursday’s Town Board work session.

The CPF, approved by referendum among East End voters in 1999, taxes real estate transfers to set aside funds for land preservation purchases.

In the early 2000s, town leaders started borrowing against future CPF revenues to buy open land before an anticipated rise in real estate values. But the real estate market then stalled, and revenues to pay off the debt have not come in as expected, leaving an annual shortfall of nearly $4 million. The town owes about $6 million each year to pay down the principal and interest on money borrowed for the land purchases.

Supervisor Sean Walter said the real estate market has to improve, or else.

“In 2018, if things don’t turn around … we’d run out of money [in the CPF],” he said in an interview. “The picture’s not very bright.”

While a deficit remains in the CPF fund, the real estate market does seem to be rebounding, suggested by this year’s rising CPF revenues, according to numbers provided by Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor).

Riverhead has brought in $1.62 million through August, an increase of 45 percent over last year’s $1.11 million. Across the entire East End, CPF funds are up to $58.5 million, up from $39.2 million in 2012.

Despite the improvement, Mr. Walter described the CPF debt as a “structural deficit problem.”

“They ran the town like it was a giant credit card,” Mr. Walter said, referring to the previous administration under Democrat Phil Cardinale. “Here’s the key: they never went to anybody … to determine if the revenue would ever support the amount financed.”

Since the town’s CPF debt far exceeds the amount of CPF money taken in, Mr. Walter predicted the town will have to start using general fund money to refill the CPF funding in 2019. The town will then have to use reserves from its general fund for eight years, until the CPF is expected to bring back in enough to pay its debt, he said.

Though Mr. Walter blamed the Cardinale administration for the bleak outlook, Long Island Pine Barrens Society executive director Richard Amper said the town “did the CPF right.”

Mr. Amper said the town hasn’t received the funding they expected from taxes due to the recession, adding the town accomplished what it set out to do by preserving land and preventing over-development.

“The likelihood that the town will have to underwrite the cost of payment from the general fund is slim to none,” Mr. Amper said, noting he last calculated his figures in 2010.

The New York State Senate approved a bill today designed to fast-track development proposals at the Enterprise Park at Calverton.

The bill was approved in the Assembly in the morning and in the Senate this afternoon.

“We’re firing on all eight cylinders now,” Supervisor Sean Walter said of the approvals. “The marketability of that property has increased 10,000-fold with this vote today. There should be nobody ever comparing this to the vacancies in Hauppauge or Melville, because nobody else in New York State has what we have now.”

The bill, which still needs to be signed by the governor, establishes a generic environmental impact study, or GEIS, at the outset, to cover all possible development proposals that meets a re-use plan agreed upon by the town, county and state.

Any fully engineered development proposal for within the area covered by the study will be guaranteed approval within 90 days of the application being filed.

If an application isn’t approved in that time frame, it will receive a default approval, Mr. Walter said.

“This is the single biggest piece of economic development legislation for Long Island, probably ever,” he said.

The state also passed a law that gives tax exemptions to businesses associated with hi-tech research projects at SUNY campuses, Mr. Walter said.

The 50-acre Stony Brook Business Incubator at EPCAL would fall under that bill, he said.

The town still needs to complete the GEIS , the new zoning and land use plans, and the subdivision at EPCAL before the fast-track proposal can take effect, the supervisor said.

That process, which has already begun, is expected to take about a year to compete.

Today was the last day of the current session for both houses of the state Legislature, which next meets in January.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Riverhead Town’s plan to fast track development at the Enterprise Park at Calverton is going right down to the wire, with the state Assembly slated to vote on the measure today, Thursday, the last day of the current legislative session in Albany.

The state bill would establish the EPCAL Reuse and Revitalization Area, 2,124 acres for which Riverhead Town would develop an overall generic environmental impact study (GEIS) outlining what can and can’t be built there.

“This is probably one of the most monumental pieces of legislation that will hit the East End and, in my opinion, all of New York state,” Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter said Friday. “What this does is, it gives the town a mechanism to have approval of projects at EPCAL in 90 days, and it is going to put EPCAL on the map in a way that nobody else in New York State is on the map.

“It’s been a long time coming,” the supervisor added.

Under the proposal, if a development application is submitted within this area, and its impacts have already been studied by the GEIS, that project would require no further environmental studies and would receive approval within 90 days of submission, provided the application was deemed complete by the town.

Normally, each individual development application would potentially need to conduct a separate environmental study.

Similar legislation passed in the state Senate last year but never made it out of committee in the Assembly. As written at that time, the bill would have created a commission comprising the five Town Board members and one representative each from the state and county. The current version of the bill gives full authority to the Town Board, eliminating the need for a new commission.

As of Wednesday, the revised bill had been moved out of the Senate’s local government committee and was listed on the Senate’s agenda of bills to be voted on Wednesday afternoon, according to Drew Biondo, an aide to state Senator Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson), the bill’s sponsor in the Senate.

But it was uncertain if the bill would be voted on by the full Senate on Wednesday or Thursday. (See riverheadnewsreview.com for updates.)

State Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor), the bill’s sponsor in the Assembly, said he expected it to be voted on Thursday by the full Assembly.

Officials say they expect the bill to be approved in both houses.

The Town Board on Tuesday also declared itself as the lead agency in the review of its EPCAL reuse plans, which include amending the town master plan and zoning and creating a new 50-lot industrial subdivision at EPCAL.

This vote came after the state Department of Environmental Conservation raised no objection to the town’s taking the lead in the review of those plans.

“This is an amazing thing we’re about to undertake,” Mr. Walter said Tuesday, as the Town Board prepared to vote on the lead agency status.

Councilwoman Jodi Giglio said Wednesday she thinks this is the most important legislation the town has adopted in more than 10 years.

The board also voted to schedule a public scoping hearing on the draft GEIS for July 12 at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

A scoping hearing allows people to suggest issues they feel should be studied in the GEIS.

On Friday, the Town Board also approved a home rule message, which indicates the board’s local support for the state proposal and was needed before the state Legislature could vote on the measure.

Board members gave Mr. Walter credit for his work on the bill, as he had made numerous trips to Albany to lobby for its passage over the past two years.

The board got the idea after taking a bus trip, complete with media members, to Devens, Mass., in January 2011. That community had worked with officials within the Commonwealth to redevelop a former military base.

The EPCAL property had been owned by the U.S. Navy and was used by the Grumman Corporation to built and test fighter jets until 1996. The land was given to the town in 1998 for economic development purposes to replace the jobs lost when Grumman shut down.

Riverhead will soon have its own mini-State Legislature right on Second Street. State Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) has joined as a partner in the Riverhead-based law firm of Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin and Quartararo.

State Senator Ken LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) joined the same law firm as counsel in 2003.

Mr. Thiele will join the firm effective July 1.

He has been the South Fork’s representative in the assembly for the past 18 years, and this year, he’s even been called upon informally to represent the North Fork on a fill-in basis. The North Fork’s assembly seat remains vacant after former assemblyman Dan Losquardo was elected Brookhaven Town Highway Superintendent earlier this year.

Prior to being an assemblyman, Mr. Thiele served as Southampton Town supervisor, as a county legislator on the South Fork and as Southampton Town attorney.

He also is currently the chairman of the Southampton Town Independence Party.

At the law firm, Mr. Thiele will be engaged in a general practice, including real estate, estate planning, litigation, municipal and environmental law, and will work primarily in the law firm’s Riverhead office, according to a press release from the law firm.

The firm was founded in 1973 and has offices in Riverhead, East Hampton, Southampton, Southold and Hauppauge. It has 26 lawyers and a professional staff of more than 30.

Founding partner Tom Twomey has some experience with state politics himself. His wife, Judith Hope, is a former chairperson of the state Democratic Committee, as well as a former East Hampton Town Supervisor.

Life could get just a little easier for East End commercial fishermen if a bill Senator Kenneth LaValle (R-C-Port Jefferson) ushered through the New York State Senate has the same support in the Assembly.

The bill that passed the Senate with only a single negative vote would allow commercial fishermen to aggregate their daily catch limits over a seven-day period. A fisherman could, for example, catch three times his daily quota on Monday and two times the limit on Wednesday and then stay off the water until the following Monday, thereby conserving fuel. The bill that passed the Senate would also allow individuals, each of whom had a fishing license, to go out together in the same boat with each able to take a daily or aggregate limit.

A newly revised set of New York State Assembly district maps was passed by the State Legislature late Wednesday and signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo this morning.

The new maps reconnect Riverhead with Southold, but place Shelter Island in the South Fork’s Assembly district.

An earlier proposal would have placed both Southold and Shelter Island in the South Fork district represented by Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor).

Southold and Riverhead political leaders, and eventually Mr. Thiele as well, said the North Fork’s voice should not be divided in the state Legislature.

The new proposal will also swap the East End district numbers. What’s now the 1st Assembly district, represented by Dan Losquadro and currently comprising Southold, Shelter Island, Riverhead and northeastern Brookhaven, will become the 2nd District. Mr. Thiele’s South Fork district would become the 1st.

New Assembly, state Senate and congressional districts must be in place in time for the upcoming fall elections. They must be approved by both houses of the state Legislature and the governor.

“I look forward to representing the new 1st Assembly District. 98 percent of the district includes areas I already represent,” Mr. Thiele said in a press release. “Shelter Island, which will be added to my district, was part of my county legislative district in the late 1980s. I am pleased that the redistricting task force listened to public opinion and kept Southold in the current district with northeast Brookhaven and Riverhead, as I had requested.”

Mr. Losquadro echoed this sentiment.

“This was a critical issue for the future for the North Fork and all the communities represented within my Assembly district,” he said in a release. “I would like to thank my fellow elected officials from the county of Suffolk and the towns of Riverhead and Southold, who joined with me to speak out against this proposed inequity. This effort truly resulted in a victory for the residents, who now will continue to have their interests and concerns best represented before the state.”

Mr. Losquadro said Wednesday that he would vote against the changes as a protest against the Democratic Assembly majority’s shutting out minority input on the proposal. He added he was only voting against the proposal because he believed it would pass.

Mr. Losquadro also said he’s supporting a constitutional amendment that would guarantee equal representation on the committee that draws up the district lines. He said he believes that amendment, which will be ready later this week, will have the support of the State Senate and Governor Andrew Cuomo.

“Despite my no vote objecting to the process, the second set of maps are going to pass,” he said. “I simply cannot support the process.

“I think the revised maps are good for the East End, and for the North Fork they’re very good,” he added. “If it hadn’t been for residents stepping up, this wouldn’t have happened. I am so happy that we prevailed in the most egregious of the shortcomings in the initial plan. But parts of the plan are still very lacking.”

Redistricting occurs every 10 years to reflect changes in population statistics gathered during the U.S. Census.

COURTESY MAP | This map shows the new First district, which will include the southeastern Brookhaven, the South Fork and Shelter Island. Riverhead, Southold and northeastern Brookhaven would be represented in the Second Assembly District, according to this latest proposal.

A newly revised set of New York State Assembly District maps puts Riverhead back in the same district as Southold and places Shelter Island in the South Fork’s Assembly District.

An earlier proposal released by the state last month would have placed both Southold and Shelter Island in the South Fork district represented by Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor).

Southold and Riverhead political leaders, and eventually Mr. Thiele as well, said the North Fork’s voice should not be divided in the state legislature.

The new proposal would rename Assemblyman Dan Losquadro’s (R-Shoreham) district, which currently includes Southold, Shelter Island, Riverhead and northeastern Brookhaven, from the First to the Second Assembly District. Mr. Thiele’s district, currently the Second Assembly District, would be renamed the First Assembly District.

“I look forward to representing the new First Assembly District. 98% of the district includes areas I already represent,” said Mr. Thiele in a release issued Monday. “Shelter Island, which will be added to my district, was part of my county legislative district in the late 1980’s. I have continued to work with Shelter Island on many regional issues and look forward to representing them again. Further, I am pleased that the redistricting task force listened to public opinion and kept Southold in the current district with northeast Brookhaven and Riverhead, as I had requested.”

Mr. Losquadro was not immediately available for comment.

Redistricting occurs every 10 years to reflect population statistics gathered during the U.S. Census.

South Fork Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor) has added his voice to the chorus of opposition to a redistricting plan that would place Southold in his assembly district.

“I have enjoyed working with Southold Town government through the years including the Peconic Bay Estuary Program, the Community Preservation Fund, Five Town Rural Transit, Peconic County, the East End Supervisors and Mayors Association, and the repeal of the MTA payroll tax and the saltwater fishing license,” he said in a press release issued Wednesday. “I would enthusiastically represent them in Albany. However, the state should not compound its failure to utilize an independent, non-partisan redistricting process by ignoring home rule. The final plan must accurately reflect the will of the public. The most important function of any elected official is to listen. Therefore, I have urged the task force to modify the plan.”

The New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research (LATFOR), announced a proposed change that would put Southold and Shelter Island in the same assembly district as the South Fork, while the current North Fork district would end at the Southold Town line in Laurel and would extend westward to Brookhaven. The district lines needed to be redrawn after the 2010 census to reflect population changes.

Mr. Thiele suggested that the South Fork district include Shelter Island, East Hampton and Southampton and a southern portion of Brookhaven, while the North Fork district would include Southold, Riverhead and a northern portion of Brookhaven.

Mr. Thiele said in the release that “it was clear from public hearings and comments that there was strong sentiment in Southold to be part of the Brookhaven/North Fork District.”

North Fork Assemblyman Dan Losquadro has led the charge to keep the North Fork district contiguous. He held a press conference urging residents to keep the district intact at Southold Town Hall last week and spoke against the proposed change at a LATFOR meeting in Hauppauge last Thursday.

LATFOR is expecting to present revised maps to the public within a few weeks, in order to have the new district lines in place for this year’s election.

JENNIFER GUSTAVSON FILE PHOTO | New smaller, faster scoot trains could be used to improve LIRR service to the East End.

For several years, a group called Five Town Rural Transit has been advocating for the creation of East End Shuttle, a coordinated shuttle train and bus network solely for the five East End towns. The plan was to use smaller, two-car shuttle trains on the existing East End railroad tracks, instead of Long Island Rail Road trains, to provide a more frequent rail service back and forth.

Now, the MTA appears to have embraced at least a part of that vision.

According to Assemblyman Fred Thiele (I-Sag Harbor), the MTA has included a $37.2 million expenditure in its five-year capital plan for the purchase of smaller, more reliable diesel trains for LIRR.

The new trains, known as “diesel multiple units,” or “scoot” trains, have smaller engines, are lighter, more cost effective and will travel shorter distances, Mr. Thiele said.

“The Long Island Rail Road is committed to exploring the possibility of providing “scoot” service as a way to increase service opportunities and ridership in eastern Suffolk County,” said Salvatore Arena, a spokesman for the MTA.

“We’re glad to hear this,” said Vince Taldone of Riverhead, who is a member of Five Town Rural Transit. “These trains would be smaller, more energy efficient and would provide more frequent service to the East End.”

The other key component to Five Town Rural Transit’s plan is to establish a network of feeder buses that meet passengers at the trains, Mr. Taldone said. However, getting the so-called scoot trains in place is a good first step, he said.

The LIRR’s East End lines, which end at Montauk on the South Fork and Greenport on the North Fork, have far less frequent train service than points west of Ronkonkoma, and are mostly single-tracks that are not electrified, so only diesel engines can run on them.

The proposed expenditure will permit the LIRR to purchase five of the new trains, which come in sets of two cars, Mr. Thiele said.

When ridership is heavier, another pair of cars can be attached.

According to the LIRR the new trains could “increase frequency of service, increase reliability, and promote intra-island commuting. The new diesels will be ideal to provide additional service in the non-electrified areas of the LIRR east of Ronkonkoma.”

“We are closer than ever to increasing public transportation opportunities for East End residents,” Mr. Thiele said, adding that the region “has clamored for increased service through the implementation of an integrated rail/bus shuttle service.”

“This could be very significant if it happens, and we’re hoping it does,” said Jim Ellwood of Riverhead, who is also a member of Five Town Rural Transit. He said he’d like to get more information, along with confirmation that the LIRR is actually going to move forward with the plan.

But he said getting the shuttles in place is a first step.

“The East End Shuttle was really an ideal,” he said. “If we can get half of that, or even a third of that, it would be welcome.”